SIR GEORGE SHEARING, Chart
Born 13th August 1919
Battersea London
Nationality English
Occupation Jazz Pianist

Sir George Shearing, OBE (born August 13, 1919) is an Anglo-American jazz pianist who for many years led a popular jazz group which recorded for MGM Records and Capitol Records. The composer of over 300 titles, he has had multiple albums on the Billboard charts during the 1950s, 1960s, 1980s and 1990s.

He became known for a piano technique known as Shearing's voicing, a type of double melody block chord, with an additional fifth part that doubles the melody an octave lower. George Shearing credits the Glenn Miller Orchestra's reed section of the late thirties and early forties as an important influence.

Shearing's interest in classical music resulted in some performances with concert orchestras in the 1950s and 1960s, and his solos frequently draw upon the music of Debussy and, particularly, Erik Satie and Frederick Delius for inspiration.

Early life

Born in Battersea, London, Shearing was the youngest of nine children. He was born blind to working class parents: his father delivered coal and his mother cleaned trains in the evening. He started to learn piano at the age of three and began formal training at Linden Lodge School for the Blind, where he spent four years.

Though offered several scholarships, Shearing opted to perform at a local pub, the Mason's Arms in Lambeth, for "25 bob a week" playing piano and accordion. He even joined an all-blind band during that time and was influenced by the albums of Teddy Wilson and Fats Waller. He made his first BBC radio appearance during this time after befriending Leonard Feather, with whom he started recording in 1937. In 1940, Shearing joined Harry Parry's popular band and contributed to the comeback of Stéphane Grappelli. Shearing won seven consecutive Melody Maker polls during this time. Around that time he was also a member of George Evans' Saxes 'n' Sevens band.
The U.S. years

In 1947, Shearing emigrated to the United States, where his harmonically complex style mixed swing, bop and modern classical influences. One of his first gigs in the States was at the Hickory House. He performed with the Oscar Pettiford Trio and led a quartet with Buddy DeFranco, which led to contractual problems since Shearing was with MGM and DeFranco was with Capitol Records. In 1949, he formed the first "George Shearing Quintet", a band with Margie Hyams (vibraphone), Chuck Wayne (guitar), later replaced by Toots Thielemans (billed as John Tillman), John Levy (bass) and Denzil Best (drums) and recorded for Discovery, Savoy and MGM, including the immensely popular single, "September in the Rain" (MGM), which sold over 900,000 copies; "my other hit" to accompany "Lullaby of Birdland". Shearing himself would write of this hit that it was "as accidental as it could be."

In 1956, he became a naturalized citizen of the United States. He continued to play with his quintet, with augmented players through the years, and recorded with Capitol until 1969. He created his own label, Sheba, that lasted a few years. Along with dozens of musical stars of his day, Shearing appeared on ABC's The Pat Boone Chevy Showroom.
1970s

In 1970 he began to "phase out his by-now-predictable quintet" and disbanded the group in 1978. One of his more notable albums during this period was The Reunion, With George Shearing (Verve 1976), made in collaboration with bassist Andy Simpkins and drummer Rusty Jones, which featured Stéphane Grappelli, the musician with whom he had debuted as a sideman decades before. Later, Shearing played with a trio, as a solo and increasingly in duo. Among his collaborations have been sets with the Montgomery Brothers, Marian McPartland, Brian Q. Torff, Jim Hall, Hank Jones and Kenny Davern. In 1979, Shearing signed with Concord Records, in particular working with Mel Tormé. This collaboration garnered Shearing and Tormé two Grammys, one in 1983 and then another in the following year.
Musical collaborations

Shearing has also collaborated with singers including Billy Eckstine Nat King Cole, Peggy Lee, Ernestine Anderson, Dakota Staton, Carmen McRae, Nancy Wilson and, most notably, Mel Tormé, with whom he performed frequently in the late 80s and early 90s at festivals, on radio and for recordings.

In the 1990s and 2000s, Shearing performed and recorded extensively in a duo format with the Canadian bassist Neil Swainson. Shearing also made a recording with the classical French horn player Barry Tuckwell.

Shearing collaborated with the John Pizzarelli Trio to create the album The Rare Delight of You, which garnered extremely good reviews. The album cover, featuring Pizzarelli and Shearing posing in front of a solid blue background, was designed to resemble the cover of Nat King Cole Sings, George Shearing Plays, a legendary jazz recording with which it shares some similarities in style.
Recognition

* Performed for U.S. Presidents

* Gerald Ford
* Jimmy Carter
* Ronald Reagan

* Performed at Royal Command Performance for Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip.
* In 1957, Jack Kerouac's novel On the Road contains a scene describing a Shearing concert
* In 1975, received honorary degree of Doctor of Music from Westminster College, Salt Lake City, Utah.
* In 1978, received the Horatio Alger Award for Distinguished Americans.
* Grammys:

* 1983 - An Evening with George Shearing & Mel Tormé
* 1984 - Top Drawer

* In 1993, received the Ivor Novello Awards for Lifetime Achievement.
* In 1994, received honorary degree of Doctor of Music from Hamilton College in New York.
* In 1996, was included in the Queens Birthday Honours List and was invested by Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace as an Officer of the Order of the British Empire for his "service to music and Anglo-US relations".
* In 1998, received the first American Music Award by the National Arts Club, New York City.
* In 2003, received the "Lifetime Achievement Award" from BBC Jazz Awards.
* In 2007, was knighted for services to music.
Source Wikipedia

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